Overview

Status

Complete

Completion Date

2013

Themes and priorities

Enhancement of life and learning

MIT constructed the Technology Childcare Center (TCC) at 219 Vassar Street in response to high demand among faculty, staff, and students for convenient, top-quality childcare. As President Reif has noted, the facility is vital to MIT recruitment and provides another reason for talented individuals to build their careers at MIT.

The center accommodates approximately 126 infants, toddlers, and preschoolers — playing a substantial role in the expansion of MIT’s in-house childcare capacity. A welcome addition to the four other TCC facilities on MIT’s Cambridge campus and at Lincoln Laboratories, the two-story building houses 11 classrooms separating children by age. Its outdoor facilities include a variety of playgrounds, sand pits, climbing features, and gardens, all vital to the development of young minds as children explore and experiment in their world. The center is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, and its design supports the highest standards for early childhood learning to foster the education, comfort, health, and safety of children.

The center was made possible through the generosity of MIT alumnus and Corporation member David H. Koch ’62, SM ’63 who provided a lead gift, and alumnus Charles W. Johnson ’55 and Jennifer C. Johnson. Koch recognized the demands facing parents at MIT who balance demanding careers with the responsibilities of raising young children; his hope is that this childcare center will make it easier for MIT community members to focus on their work, knowing that their families are receiving excellent care.

Scope

approximately 14,000 gsf

Design Features

Building constructed of 21 custom-designed, pre-fabricated building block units built and assembled at a factory in Pennsylvania. Once the bulk of the construction was completed in Pennsylvania, the building was disassembled, transported by flatbed truck, and re-erected at the Cambridge site

Building block construction is playfully expressed in colorful exterior

Cantilevered top floor creates piazza at building entrance on first floor and play deck on second floor

Doors in each first-floor classroom open directly onto age-appropriate playgrounds. Three preschool classrooms on second floor have use of outside play deck with stairs leading to ground floor preschool playground

Large classroom windows let in plenty of daylight, which is highly beneficial to learning. Smaller child-height windows provide a variety of views to the world around the center and represent one of many building details tailored for children